A side of lamb is made up of prime cuts and secondary cuts.
Your cut sheet will determine exactly what ends up in your freezer.Â
With a lamb, most of your choices are between chops, and roasts!
This deep dive lays out all the cuts, your typical cut choices and some cooking tips for each section!
lamb Leg Roast
Lamb Shank
Lamb Neck
Lamb Leg Roast (forequarter)
Lamb Ribs
Forequarter Chops
Lamb Sholder Chops
Lamb Loin Chops
Lamb Cutlet
Welcome to the Half A Cow Online complete breakdown of a side of lamb!
Some cuts will have “options” which you may find on your ‘cut sheet’ when ordering. These instructions tell the butcher how you would like each portion of meat prepared to best suit your eating habbits.
If you’re ordering a side of lamb, most of your choices will be about chops or roasts. Most of a lamb can be left as whole pieces for roasts, or chopped up into smaller steaks or medallions for the BBQ!
Here’s a whole leg of lamb, before being divided further into chops and roasts. Here you can see the full leg including the shank, and other sections which may be turned into chops or roasts.Â
Here you can see the whole leg of lamb. Our butcher has got so excited he's already started to cut it up. You can see the plan to split this leg into several roasts.
Here's a whole roast leg of lamb, you can clearly see that the bone is currently left in. This can be taken out by the buther generally for an additional fee.
This makes for an easier roast, but you do lose a bit of meat doing this.
Here you can see the whole leg of lamb. Our butcher has got so excited he's already started to cut it up. You can see the plan to split this leg into several roasts.
We're on our way to becoming a roast, or chops. We can stop here and get a lamb roast, or we can run it through the band saw!
Now we've got chops! Each part of the lamb will give us slightly different chops. These are forequarter lamb chops.
Lamb chops and cutlets are both cuts of meat taken from the rib section of the lamb. However, lamb chops are generally larger and have a bone while lamb cutlets are smaller and have been trimmed of most of the fat and bone. Both can be grilled, broiled, or pan-seared and are known for their tender texture and delicious flavour.
Loin chop. Also knows as the lamb 'T-bone', this chop is portioned from the short loin that sits towards the back of the lamb, between the leg and the rack.
Lamb cutlets are lamb loin chops with the bone left in. They can be done as chops, or as a 'rack of lamb'
Similar to the beef Y-bone, these sholder chops have a bone running through the middle. They can be turned into diced meat or mince too.
Lamb flank is a cut of meat from the underside of the lamb, between the ribs and the leg. It is known for its intense lamb flavor and can be cooked in various ways, such as grilling, roasting, or braising.
The 'side' of the lamb, before it is turned into 'ribs', diced lamb or mince.
The result of cutting the lamb flank are these amazing lamb ribs. Hard to find!
Lamb shank is a cut of meat from the lower leg of the lamb that is rich in connective tissue, making it ideal for slow cooking methods such as braising or stewing.
Lamb neck is a flavorful and tender cut of meat taken from the neck and shoulder area of the lamb.
Typically you'll get two lamb shanks from a side of lamb, the shanks can be cut lower or higher on the leg but you'll sacrifice some chops or roast size to do this.
Great for slow cooking and diced lamb. Typically in a side of lamb you will give half of what is pictured here. Rarely found in supermarkets as a whole piece.
